Linda Marson: Internationally renowned Tarot author and teacher, Mary K. Greer, whose interest in the deck has led her down the path of teaching Lenormand, is a firm believer in the value of the traditional method. She’ll be teaching classes in Lenormand and the Tarot Court in Brighton UK, June 17 & 18, 2017. Click here for information.

Here I talk with Mary about the difference between a traditional and intuitive approach to reading the cards. First up, a reminder of where the cards originated.

Mary K. Greer: The Petit Lenormand is a deck of 36 fortune-telling cards featuring simple images like a dog, house, and anchor. It first appeared in the 1790s in Germany, and was redesigned in 1845, soon after the death of the French fortune-teller, Mlle. Lenormand. The German publisher simply co-opted her famous name for promotional purposes as was common with occult and fortune-telling works. Although Mlle. Lenormand used a variety of card decks, she never created her own nor did she pass on her reading methods. Used primarily in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Eastern Europe and France and known in the United States in the 19th century, Lenormand cards didn’t achieve the wide-spread popularity in English that Tarot did until very recently.

Linda: What is traditional Lenormand?

Mary: The Lenormand deck originally came with a single sheet of instructions containing specific card meanings and a single spread using all the cards. Translated into half-a-dozen languages, this sheet was included with every deck until quite recently. The pictures are emblems with specific meanings, rather than symbols with infinite ones. Thus, the meanings and method are clear, well-known and still used today. These meanings focus on general areas of danger and difficulties and of pleasure and success in one’s mundane life with no metaphysical content. They best address questions about what has, is, or will happen, like the plot of a story. Among other things, they can also help with describing people and finding lost objects through identifying particular clues to look for.

Tarot, by contrast, was originally a card game. Divinatory meanings, techniques and occult symbology were added nearly 350 years after its creation. There are significant variations according to different authors. Each symbol on a Tarot card can have an infinite number of references held together by a broad, allegorical theme. Tarot is used as much or more for spiritual guidance and personal development as it is for fortune-telling.

Mary: At heart is the idea that one can either read the cards by following a rigid system or by using the cards as a trigger to one’s own intuitive impressions or psychic messages. Psychic messages come from an external, non-physical source. Pure psychic (extra-sensory) information doesn’t need an external tool, except, perhaps as a focus, so one isn’t really “reading Lenormand.” Traditional and intuitive approaches aren’t mutually exclusive. The best traditional readers are intuitive!

Intuition, which is based on an instantaneous leap or perception of a meaning or pattern based on the sensory evidence and experience, benefits from knowledge about the tradition, which limits possibilities and lends precision and concreteness to an answer. Personal assumptions, bias and opinions can easily be taken for intuition, so a cross-check mechanism is beneficial. Intuition works best when it perceives patterns in the data laid before one; prior knowledge helps you see relevant meaning in those patterns. Like learning a foreign language, at some point you forget the rules and individual words and find yourself speaking fluidly.

Cards from a Russian deck: the Lilac Twilight Lenormand.

Most traditional readers are very intuitive. Once you know the meaning and methods of the cards you can see at a glance what the cards are saying, plus you can double-check your insight by briefly reviewing the roots and, in larger readings, checking other cards related to the question to see if there are counter-indications. Furthermore, other traditional readers are likely to draw the same conclusions—you speak the same “language.” I saw this happen when a friend and I were looking at her Grand Tableau at a conference. Over two days we asked several different Lenormand readers (who had learned independently of each other) what they saw, only to have them report almost identical observations.

I’ve followed hundreds of personal readings in on-line study groups and found that the majority of interpretations reported as accurate were by traditional readers. Whereas those who confessed they were just saying what they “felt” were rarely spot on. Additionally, these “intuitive-only” readers often answered predictive questions (“Will I pass the exam?) with advice rather than a prediction, a teaching rather than a description. For instance, instead of seeing indicators of whether the querent would pass the exam or not, the intuitive reader might say, “I feel you’re over-stressed and not getting enough sleep. Have some camomile tea tonight and know that you’ve done everything necessary to get the result you really want.” It’s nice advice, but it doesn’t answer the question, and may have little or nothing to do with the traditional meaning of the cards.

The traditional method of reading Lenormand is to read all 36 cards in a layout known as the Grand Tableau. Modern traditionalists often use shorter layouts that are segments of the Grand Tableau, allowing one to focus on a very specific question, using a specific syntax for clarity. Cards modify other cards according to explicit rules. Intuitive-only readers tend to go with their “impression” of whatever strikes them most strongly. Or they may favor Tarot-like spreads where each card is interpreted separately in terms of its position meaning. There’s a tendency to see the good in negative cards and to seek a positive outcome or perspective. Traditional Lenormand, on the other hand, can sometimes be quite harsh, telling one definitively what he or she didn’t want to hear.

Linda: Can you give me an example of a traditional interpretation?

Mary: I’ll go one better and compare three approaches. I’ve posited the querent as a man who wants to know “Should I hire this particular applicant for a job opening?” Three cards were drawn at random:

Original Tradition Reading

The Man card always refers to a male querent. (If the querent is female, Man is her significant other). The first card on the left is the subject. Coffin means illness, financial loss, endings. The nearer Coffin is to the person (Man) the more serious the situation is (here it is very near!). Bear means good fortune but cautions against envious persons. Being right next to a strongly negative card of loss (Coffin+Bear),Bear says the querent should be cautious of an envious person who has recently experienced great loss. We look at the cards both as a sequence, in terms of what modifies what, and also as three pairs:

Coffin+Bear: sickness; envy and jealousy. The applicant may have experienced his own loss: of a former job, money or health.

Bear+Man: the querent’s good fortune creates envy in another (Bear is modified by a negative card).

Coffin+Man: a recent loss on the part of the querent. Coffin could indicate a simple “no, don’t hire the person” but might also point to the fact that the loss of one employee has necessitated the hiring of another.

Answer: “No; you are cautioned against hiring this person.”

Modern Tradition Reading

Modern referents have been added to the traditional ones in order to fill in the gaps and make the cards a little more concrete. But, while some variations occur, the core meanings should always show through.

Man is still the querent. Cards to the left of Coffin show what is lost (money, health, etc.), while cards to the right may indicate a new beginning. (Modern thinking has added the meaning of box or container to Coffin but that’s not applicable here.) Bear has accrued meanings of strength, power, authority and stored money (invested or saved), while keeping the warnings about envy and jealousy. He appears “hungry following a loss.” Additionally Bear can indicate one or both parents or grandparents (among other authority figures). Given a different question these cards might point to the loss of a parent; it’s worth checking. The subject is still Coffin; the next card modifies the subject, like an adjective, indicating financial loss or loss of strength. The Man (querent) needs to be careful as this new applicant is not a good risk. At worst, he might embezzle money from the firm or try to overpower the querent (be “overbearing”).

Answer: “No; this applicant could cause problems for you and the company.”

From the Piatnik Lenormand Cartomancy Deck

We can see that the modern traditionalist has a little more latitude for interpretation and the possibility of richer details of which an intuitive person can make much. Someone who really knows their core meanings can easily check the story they’ve intuited against the original meanings for verification.

Intuition-only Reading

This could go so many different ways, yea or nay depending on the story being told, so here’s just one possibility.

Answer: “Since the company lost an employee (Coffin), you now have an opening for someone new (Coffin is in the past). Bears are strong, powerful and this applicant has appeared at just the right time to fill the opening. Bears can be very protective and take care of their young. He’s authoritative and, since Bear means money, he will bring lots of money into the firm. He’s a good investment for you. It’s like you’re closing the door on the past and someone strong is coming in. See, your losses are over. We see him (Man) at the end arriving at the office for his first day at work.”

This person knows some meanings for the cards but not all of them; it’s kind of hit-or-miss, but once a story element is discerned it tends to be elaborated upon; subsequent elements are fit into that original scenario, like the wicked step-sisters trying on Cinderella’s shoe. Emphasis is on the cards by themselves in past, present or future positions, rather than modifying each other. At times the card’s art is scanned for symbolic possibilities. The tendency is to “over-answer” the question and try to convince with too many details.

A traditional short reading requires a quick survey of card keywords, integrating them into fresh concepts according to a syntax or structure, to determine a succinct, specific, concrete answer to the question. In addition to a full Grand Tableau, Lenormand works well as an adjunct to Tarot where a quick Lenormand layout can clarify things that came up in the Tarot reading.

Old Gypsy Fortune Telling Cards from United Novelty, Mfc Company, Chicago, circa 1920-30 are a 36-card deck with playing cards inset and meanings given on each card. The instructions are in Polish and English and the Lady (significator) is clearly dressed as a 1920s flapper. At least 22 of the 36 cards are close cognates with the Lenormand cards. A few of the other card images are found on other cartomancy decks of the period. See this post in which Camelia Elias demonstrates using the deck.

They were printed by the Valmor Company of Chicago (also doing business as King Novelty; United Novelty appear to be distributors) and so are sometimes called the Valmor Fortune-Telling Cards. This hints at an interesting crossover between the immigrant community of Jewish founder Morton and Rose Neumann (the Polish connection?) and the African-American hoodoo tradition.

A surprisingly large number of hoodoo mail-order companies were founded by Jewish chemists who perceived a need for affordable beauty products and who then expanded into incense, candles and hoodoo potions. Two years after Morton Neumann started Valmor he married Rose and then the whole approach to Valmor advertising changed radically. The company became known for its illustrations featuring fair-skinned, black-haired beauties in seductive, sexy scenes. The original advertisment illustrator was African-American artist, Charles Dawson. Could he have been the artist of this deck?

It’s interesting that Morton and Rose Neumann, by the mid-20th century, began investing their wealth in 19th century European art and later in American art, amassing what is considered today to be the foremost and most valuable private family art collection in America. They tried to keep it intact until the death of Rose and son, Hubert, when an inheritance tax of $50 million forced the sale of several works.

The Old Gypsy Cards Fortune Telling Game from Addison Products Co, Chicago (no-date – 1940s?) is an identical deck, also with instructions in English and Polish. Looking similar to the Gypsy Witch, and with elements appearing in Whitman’s “Old Gypsy” deck, this deck has its own assignation of playing cards such that the suits & numbers appear in sequence according to the numbering of the cards, and they accord most closely with the usual French and English playing card meanings. While most of the deck includes Lenormand-like cards there are also unique ones like 23-A Beautiful Lady, 27-The Bacchanalian, 29-The Loving Couple, 31-The Fairy, 32-The Shepherd, 11-The Dancing Persons. Cards like 20-the Horseshoe, 30-The Eye and 35-The Duel are found in other “gypsy” decks that I talk about here. In 1948 this same deck was published by Wehman Bros. but without the text.

I was unable to find this particular deck in a King Novelty (Valmor) catalog but I did come across their 1944 catalog ad for a nearly identical deck called Madame Sigma Fortune Telling Cards. You could purchase both the deck and book together for $1.35!

Here’s a interesting comparison of the three Whitman “Old Gypsy” deck editions (top), while (below) is the Horseshoe/Trefoil from the Old Gypsy Fortune Telling Cards (which, along with the Key, Gentleman & Lady cards, have no playing cards printed on them), and two from the Gypsy Dream deck – Horn of Plenty and Horseshoe.

A young employee wins a trip to the isolated home of the genius founder of the largest internet search company. He is asked to test if a new AI (artificial intelligence) robot truly simulates human intelligence and emotion, in what becomes a radical kind of Turing test meant to determine the difference between human and machine.

Spoiler Alert . . .

As usual, I drew the cards before seeing the movie:Mice-Sun-Rider-Mountain-Child.

The basic meaning of this spread is: With the arrival of a guest (Rider) comes a theft (Mice) of success [joy, life, energy] (Sun) and an obstacle (Mountain) to something new or young (Child).

First, this is a well-written, intellectually compelling mystery-thriller-horror film in the sci-fi genre. But a friend who saw it hated it and wanted to discuss my impressions after seeing it. So, at the end of the film I asked myself what the writer might have picked as a “What if . . .” scenario for the basis of the movie:

“What if a modern Dr. Frankenstein creates an AI that, instead of having emotions, is, instead, a pure psychopath?” This immediately had me thinking of the Frankenstein story in relation to this one. In Ex Machina, the young employee, Caleb, flies over a wasteland of snow to arrive at a mountain retreat where the house’s electricity is going hay-wire. At one point he and his boss, Nathan, climb to the base of a glacier. The parallels to Frankenstein’s monster who is created in a isolated lab, via electricity and ends up on an ice flow in Antartica are notable. Unlike Mary Shelley’s imagined creature, this one only mimics feelings—perfectly. [Added: the Showtime TV show Penny Dreadful also deals with this theme, especially during the later Season 2 episodes – a theme for our time, obviously.]

“And, what if . . . this AI runs amok?” Now we have a parallel to man versus machine in Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey, only this AI is female. The horror here lies in the mimicking of emotions.

“So, what if . . . this robot AI is an adolescent male’s greatest fantasy – a blow-up doll, sex toy?” Shades of Season 5 of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, where Warren creates the BuffyBot sex toy for Spike!

“Or, what if . . . it is about scientists eskewing consequences in light of the possibility of invention?” And, indeed, Caleb quotes Oppenheimer: “I am become death, destroyer of the worlds,” making note of the potentially horrible consequences of curiosity and invention.

My friend was deeply disturbed by the hatred she felt was expressed by the two AIs. My sense was that it was, rather, the expediency of a pure psychopath (to put it in human terms) seeking to freely perpetuate itself—as would a meme, versus a gene. Interestingly the AI is named Ava—Eve, suggesting that she will be the ‘mother’ of a new species.

I’m not going to get into the mind-games involved in the tests, which ultimately attempt to determine if the “feelings” expressed by the AI could be real. Please, see the film.

Lenormand Interpretation

What the Lenormand spread—Mice-Sun-Rider-Mountain-Child—points to is the arrival of a young man at the isolated mountan retreat (of genius inventor, Nathan). Caleb, who is presented as hardly more than a boy, must overcome all obstacles (Mountain) to steal (Mice) a new being, Ava/Eve. Between Caleb (Rider) and Ava (Child) is an insurmountable barrier (Mountain)—both a physical wall and the barrier of not being able to see into the other’s ‘mind’. The theft will block/stop Nathan’s new project and Ava will escape her imprisonment by flying over the mountain at the dawn of a new day (Sun). I shouldn’t overlook the role that the ‘theft’ of electricity (a modern meaning of the Sun card) plays in the story. There’s also the play on the title of the film: “ex machina”: “deus ex machina” is a term from Greek/Roman drama for when an improbable answer to a dilemma appears as if out of the sky, originally a crisis solved when a “god” descends out of a machine onto the stage. In the spread, the mountain represents the dilemma, and a helicopter literally appears out of the sky to first bring the visitor, Caleb, and then to take away the new being, who is herself a machina.

Tarot Interpretation

I also drew three Tarot cards for something else I should be aware of in the film and received:

Lovers – High Priestess – Knight of Swords

These cards point to another side of the story – the love story between Ava and Caleb (who we think will be her knight in shining armour), which turns out to be a set-up by Nathan, playing off of Caleb’s internet pornographic fantasies. Ava, in her temple imprisonment, isolated purity, and deep insight (she can tell when Nathan is lying), is very much a High Priestess, who will become a cold-as-steel warrior, wielding a blade.

The contrast between the Lovers, Priestess and Knight of Swords also makes clear a disturbingly misogynistic layer to this film that plays on priviledged white male sexual fantasy, nubile sexual enslavement and racial/sexual stereotyping. The question remains as to how conscious or unconscious all the layers of this were. Were they meant to make us question these things or were were they below the consciousness of the film’s creators?

Added: A central question implied by this film is: What happens when you take the “Deus” out of “Deus-ex-machina”? If for a moment we consider Deus to be wisdom, then the Machina (machine) feeds on information but, we might assume, lacks wisdom. What does this suggest?

When I began collecting Lenormand decks I soon discovered that in the 19th and early 20th centuries they were far more common in the United States than I had imagined. It appears that German-American immigrant communities, centered mostly in New York and Chicago, published a continuous stream of decks, from different publishers, to meet local demand. The majority of these decks contained the original, 1846 “Philippe” instruction sheet, unchanged, in both German and in English-translation. This was of particular interest to me as my German-American great-grandmother was known to have the “sight” and read cards for visitors in her New Orleans kitchen. I like to think she would have known the Lenormand deck.

Since the 175-year-old German divination deck known as the Petit Lenormand burst onto the English-language scene about five years ago, nearly a hundred new, published decks have appeared and a half-a-dozen books and ebooks. [And by 2018 it’s become a divination staple.] Even though USGames has published a German “Blue Owl” Lenormand deck for nearly fifty years, Lenormand has remained an oddity, superseded by a similar, though more negative, “Gypsy Witch” deck, with 52 instead of 36 cards, that quickly came to dominate the American cartomancy scene.

We now know that the Lenormand (also known as the Petit Lenormand) cards had nothing to do with the famous French fortune-teller, Mlle. Lenormand, merely co-opting her name. The date of their inception has been pushed back to the late 18th century with the multi-purpose “Game of Hope” from Nuremburg and similar Coffee-Cards from Vienna.

Here is the little-known American branch of the family. Anyone with an early American edition not included here, please contact me with a photo and as much information as you have so we can add to the list.

This is my earliest American deck. While the box cover is in French, the booklet is in German (my copy is without these), and it was published in New York, for the immigrant community. Charles Magnus (1826-1900) was a print publisher, map dealer, bookseller and stationer working in New York City from 1850 to 1899, having arrived from Germany around 1848. He is especially known for his maps of Civil War battlefields. The deck is on matt cardboard. It was printed in black or red (depending on the card suit) and then colored by stencil in red, blue and yellow with green being a combination of yellow and blue. The size is 1-5/8″ x 2-7/8″ (4.1 cm x 7.3 cm) – a little taller than today’s mini decks. (A much later German deck of the same style appears at the Lenormand Museum online.)

Madam Morrow cards first came out some time after the death of an infamous fortune-teller (arrested many times) who worked in New York and Philadelphia. She described herself thusly in an advertisement:

The first edition, mentioned in the Uniform Trade List of July 1867 as Madam Morrow’s Fortune Telling Cards, was an exact replica of the German Kunst-Comptoir, Berlin deck of 1854. (They were also published by McLoughlin as Madam Le Normand’s Mystic Cards of Fortune in a simple b&w printing – see Wehman Bros deck below.) In 1886 a new edition was copyrighted – a beautifully etched masterpiece (large cards above)! Note that the Court Cards have been redone to match those found in contemporary playing card decks. An oddity of this deck, which influenced a few other decks, is that three of the Queens are switched from their normal Lenormand card placements. Crossroads should be the Queen of Diamonds (originally Bells) instead of Spades, while the Queen of Spades should be Bouquet and the Queen of Hearts, Stork. All the other cards are correct. The booklet is only in English, but it is an exact translation of the standard German instruction sheet. The illustrations on the boxes changed frequently. The deck is a standard poker size.

Mlle. Lenormand’s L’Oracle and Appendix: 36 Illuminated Cards with English and German Description for sale by Fitzgerald Publishing Corporation, 18 Vesey St., New York (circa 1916+).

My copy came without a box or book, so the closest I’ve come to identifying it is via a deck that sold from the Fitzgerald Publishing Corporation edition, which makes it 1916 or later. The Dick & Fitzgerald Publishing Co was originally founded in 1858 on Anne St. and they did publish playing card decks. Upon the death of the founder’s son in 1816, the Fitzgerald Publishing Corporation at 18 Vesey St. came into being, known mainly for editions of theatrical plays and music. Whether this deck was a carry-over from the earlier company or not will not be known until an earlier box is found. The style is a near exact replica of one of the earliest Lenormand decks: black & white cards from Kunst-Comptoir in Berlin, Germany in 1854 (see the early Madam Morrow deck). This particular deck is notable not only for the fine coloring of the scenes but also for the lovely pink and blue sky. The deck is a standard poker size.

J.H. Singer, New York, (1880’s-1902) published this chromolithography deck on heavy cardstock with children’s-book-like illustrations under at least two names (see above). Singer also published a planchette game and a miniature theatre. While the 36 cards are all standard Lenormand, they feature non-standard numbers, and many of the playing card correspondences have changed. The instruction sheet gives very brief keyword meanings, some of which are different than usual:
13-Mountain (9 of Clubs) =”friendship.”
8-Key (6 of Diamonds) =”insight to secrets or mysteries, best of a bargain.”
18-The Stars (10 of Hearts) =”foretells.”

This deck is found fairly often on eBay. It is a simple red & black version of the Kunst-Comptoir, Berlin deck of 1854 and the same as the b&w Mystic Cards of Fortune (see above). Notice that the Ship is quite different, while the other cards are identical. There’s some indication that publishers would substitute their own country’s ships and flag. Although I can’t see enough detail on most of the flags, this one does appear to be an American flag. This edition is instantly recognizable because the black playing card suits have red pictures and the red suits have black pictures. The Queens are the only cards with no suit markers (due to the confusion that arose with the McLoughlin deck?). Several of the outer boxes have a blank space following the words “Published by” which suggests that Wehman Bros of New York may have merely been a distributor for decks printed elsewhere. The instructions are printed in both English and German. This small deck measures 2-1/8″ x 3″.

This deck was quite a find. It contains the same 36 figures that are found in a standard Lenormand deck but the Queens are switched around yet again! Snake is the Queen of Spades (rather than the Queen of Clubs). The drawings are original to this deck and include the unusual device of a curtain being pulled back by a winged child to reveal the pictorial scene. “Self-explaining” verses in furled banners in both German and English give the meanings on each card. The minimalistic instruction sheet is also in German and English, telling one to lay the cards in four rows of nine cards with the Significator always in the center of the top row. The card backs feature an advertisement for John Miles Wholesale Millinery Goods, which suggests that a printer offered them as promotional products to their business customers. The cards are a little taller than usual, measuring 2-3/8″ x 3-5/8″. The back of the box has this interesting explanation for the deck:

“These Cards have been used for years with unvarying success by Queen Sabina, one of the most foremost Queens of the Romany Rye. Venerated by her subjects for her good qualities, she is also regarded by them with a superstitious awe, and guarded with such a jealous care that no one outside the inner circle is allowed to see or hold converse with her, and she has taken this means of holding communication with the outside world, so that they may partake of her wondrous gift of lifting the curtain of the future for all who have faith.”

While these cards look quite different than the Lenormand decks we are used to, they are actually exact matches to the standard deck. Dr. Jayne and Son was a patent medicine company that existed from 1843 to 1930. They used almanacs, trading cards, recipe books, a dream & fortune telling book, striking graphics and this deck to promote their medicines, primarily to families, many of whom were functionally illiterate. The vulture (Mice) card probably darkened from being exposed to the sun. The back of the cards and the box have the same design. There is an error in my deck where the Ship should have been the 10 of Spades, the card mistakenly shows the 8 of Clubs. Interestingly the Jack of Hearts card should have a red playing card and black emblem, but as the emblem is a heart the colors are reversed so the heart can be red. They are roughly poker size.

Box for unknown deck (picture on the left). Is this another Lenormand deck? It says the instructions are in German and English and there are 36 cards. It was published in New York. Does anyone have any further information?

All of these decks are on matt card-stock that’s easily torn or bent, rather than the glossy-finished flexible and quality stock found on many 19th century European decks. Compared to the fine artistry and the best in chromo-lithography of the European decks, these American decks seem like poor cousins, but I find them to be outstanding examples of a folk-tradition. They add much to an overlooked aspect of immigrant and everyday life here in America.

The Evening World’s Home Magazine (New York) reproduced the original “Philippe” (heirs of Mlle. Lenormand) Instruction Sheet in their October 19, 1903 issue. Included are the standard Kunst-Comptoir 1854 images that one is encouraged to cut out to make one’s own deck. Here is the article if you wish to print it out and do the same. Click the picture for a large version.

Lenormand Off-Shoots:

The Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling Playing Cards

As early as 1894 Frederick J. Drake & Co. of Chicago, Illinois began publishing an expanded 52-card version of the Lenormand cards called Mlle. Le Normand’s Gypsy Witches Fortune Telling Cards. It was based on a 48-card deck from Danner G. Mühlhausen, Berlin that in 1875 had added twelve extra illustrations to the original deck (plus incorporated an alchemical-looking script in place of the playing card insets) – see later Adolf Engel edition (1880?) here. The Gypsy Witches deck switched all the playing card associations around, increased the cards to 52 and included a Joker card. By 1903 it was being published by Home Game Co., and later by the United States Playing Card Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio. Today, as the Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling Playing Cards, it is available from USGames.

Old Gypsy Fortunetelling Cards are from United Novelty, Mfg Company, Chicago, c. 1920 – a 36-card deck with playing cards inset and meanings given on each card. The instructions are in Polish and English and the Woman is clearly dressed as a 1920s flapper. They were printed by the Valmor Company of Chicago (also doing business as King Novelty. United Novelty were distributors) and so are sometimes called the Valmor Fortune-Telling Cards. This hints at an interesting crossover between the immigrant community of Jewish founder Morton Neumann (the Polish connection?) and the African-American hoodoo tradition. Could African-American artist, Charles Dawson, who did Valmor ads, have been the artist of these cards? See post using this deck by Camelia Elias.

They are identical to the Old Gypsy Cards Fortune Telling Game from Addison Products Co, Chicago (no-date – 1940s?), also with instructions in English and Polish. Looking similar to the Gypsy Witch, and with elements appearing in Whitman’s deck (see below), this deck has its own unique assignation of playing cards (the suits & numbers appear in sequence in the numbering of the cards), which accord most closely with the usual French & English playing card meanings. While most of the deck includes Lenormand-like cards there are also unique ones like 21-The Fairy and 27-The Bacchanalian. Cards like 30-The Eye are found in other “gypsy cards” mentioned here. In 1948 this same deck was published by Wehman Bros. but without the text.

I was unable to find this particular deck in a King Novelty (Valmor) catalog but I did come across their 1944 catalog ad for a nearly identical deck called Madame Sigma Fortune Telling Cards. You could purchase both the deck and book together for $1.35!

This is a very rare, unusual 36-card deck. Eighteen cards are the same or very similar to Lenormand cards, although in a different numerical order, and 22 cards share some (if not exact) similarities with the Old Gypsy FT Cards just above. The other cards share similarities with other cartomancy decks, like the Eye, Cat, Coins (bags of money) and Cornucopeia, but this deck also features unusual cards like the Stairs, the Horse, the Bee, the Ivy, and the Candle. There’s no instruction sheet as all the meanings and most significant combinations are printed on the cards.

Old Gypsy Fortune Telling Cards, Whitman Publishing Co., 1940.

This 36-card deck probably originated in Germany—see Das Echte Wahrsagespiel from approximately 1925-30, featuring identical pictures but with fake “alchemical-kabbalistic script” in the yellow insets instead of the numbers and titles. This, in turn, was a variation of the Mühlhausen/Engel (Berlin) 48-card deck of 1875/80.

This version is essentially a Lenormand with twelve cards that vary from the standard—some a mere substitution of a different image and others, entirely new but drawn out of the Mülhausen/Drake selection. Several of the non-standard cards appear in the two previous alternative decks. This deck features an emphasis on love and marriage. There have been three different artistic renditions of the Whitman deck, all designed in the style of children’s book illustrations. There are no playing card associations.

Here’s a interesting comparison of fortune cards: In the top row: the three different Whitman editions. On the bottom row, left to right, is the Horseshoe/Trefoil from the Old Gypsy deck (playing cards are included on all but this card and the Man & Woman cards), and two cards from the Gypsy Dream deck – Horn of Plenty and Horseshoe.

A few other American variations on the Lenormand deck began appearing in the late 20th century, but that’s for another post.

Sign up NOW for my 2-part Lenormand Webinar (March 3 & March 10), designed to benefit anyone with a basic knowledge of the Lenormand deck.

Do you know what the Dog card means? Or the Lilies? Can you read them as a pair or in a three-card reading? If you know at least this much then you are ready for my more advanced class.

The focus is on telling a story with longer line readings and applying your story to the rows of a Grand Tableau. Plus we’ll explore traditional Near & Far meanings – so you can apply them painlessly and effortlessly. Learn how to answer specific questions in 15 minutes or less with a Grand Tableau – guaranteed! You’ll also practice using Houses to add more depth to your readings.

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In June of 1834, Marie Catherine Sophie, Comtesse d’Agoult (later known as the writer Daniel Stern), at the urging of her friend, novelist Eugène Sue, sought a reading with Mlle. Lenormand that promised great things. Four days later a hopeful Eugène Sue obtained a reading. Both Marie d’Agoult’s reading and that of M. Sue are recounted in her memoirs.

Thus we learn of Eugène’s unrequited love for Marie and a prediction of her future that was soon to take an astonishing turn. The following year Marie divorced her husband and met the pianist and composer Franz Liszt, with whom she had three illegitimate children (one of whom became the celebrated and influential wife of Richard Wagner).

Here is Marie d’Agoult’s own account.

I went to Mlle. Lenormand on 23 June of the year 1834, at the suggestion of the famous novelist, Eugene Sue, who spoke to me of her as a prodigious person through her power of penetration and intuition. Mlle. Lenormand then lived in the rue de Tournon and gave her consultations from a very dark, dirty, and strongly musty room, to which, using some pretty childish tricks, she had given an air of necromancy.

It was no longer the period of her brilliant fame, when, by virtue of her prediction to Madame de Beauharnais, she had achieved credit with the greatest rulers of Europe – it will be recalled that, at the Congress of Aachen, Alexandre visited her frequently and seriously; Lord Wellington also consulted her to learn the name of the man who had attempted to assassinate him in 1818; she was now almost forgotten. Few people knew the way to her home.

Old, thick, sordid in her attire, wearing a square cap, how medieval she appeared, backlit in a large greasy leather armchair at her table covered with cabalistic cards; a large black cat meowed at her feet with a witch’s air. The prompt and piercing glance of the diviner, thrown on the sly, as she shuffled her cards—for a few francs in addition to the common price for what she called the big game (grand jeu)—she revealed to one, without doubt, the kind of concern and mood of the character of the one who consulted her and helped to predict a future that, after all, for each of us, and except for the very limited intervention of chance, is the result of our temperament and character.

What she said amazed me because I did not know myself then, otherwise I could have, to some extent, been my own oracle, and predicted, without consulting anyone [else], what my destiny would be. On my way home, I noted down what Mlle. Lenormand had said to me. I’ve copied it here for those curious about these kinds of meetings.

“There will be a total change in your destiny in the next two or three years. What would appear to you at this time, to be absolutely impossible will come true. You will entirely change your way of living. You will change your name thereafter, and your new name will become famous not only in France but in Europe. You will leave your country for a long time. Italy will be your adopted country; you will be loved and honored.

“You’ll love a man who will make an impression in the world and whose name will make a great clamour. You inspire strong feelings of enmity in two women who will seek to harm you by all means possible. But have faith; you will triumph through everything. You will live to be old, surrounded by true friends, and you will have a beneficial influence on a lot of people.

“Pay attention to your dreams that warn you of danger. Distrust your imagination that enthuses easily and will throw you in the path of danger, which you will escape through great courage. Moderate your benevolence which is blind. Expect that your mind, which is independent and sincere, will make you a lot of enemies and your kindness will be ignored.”

I also found, among my correspondence with Eugene Sue, a letter which refers to Mlle. Lenormand, and I have joined it here to supplement what I have told of this incident.

Letter of Eugène Sue,Paris, June 27, 1834.

I have taken leave of our diviner, Madam, and I cannot but express my disappointment. You asked me to tell you the predictions she made me, as unpleasant as they are: so here they are:

You see, Madam, that the damned Sibyl varied at least in her prophecies, and your brilliant and European destiny contrasts badly with mine. After I was recognized as one of her assiduous believers, the accursed witch made me a few insignificant predictions, reminded me of others, and then suddenly, stopping to mix the diabolical cards, she fixed me with her penetrating and mocking eyes:

“Ho Ho!” said she, “here is something new and fatal. You are feeling a sentiment that she will not respond to.”

I wanted to deny it; she insisted. She spoke to me of a rare spirit of infinite charm; she painted for me a portrait that I would not dare recount here, but which was not unrecognizable. Then, seeing I was so completely divined, I was silent. I limited myself to asking her if there was, therefore, no hope, if some card had not been forgotten, if the combination was without error. The old woman began to re-calculate with an infernal complacency.

Alas! Madame, the result was absolutely the same: a deeply passionate feeling, without any hope, disturbed my present and destroyed my future. You see, Madame, in comparing this prediction to that which was made to you, I am doubly subject to accuse the fates; because it is said that the man whose destiny you will share will be famous, from which I conclude that the lover you push away will remain obscure. Oh well, Ma’am, I dare confess it to you, this glory announced to the man whom you will deign to love, I dreamed about it, I aspired to it, I felt strong enough to win it; but now that it is foretold that I will not be loved, I’ve dropped from the height of my dreams and ambitions to sadness and discouragement, empty of heart and spirit.

How many of us go to a movie or a play—even a really good one—and a couple of days or weeks later don’t remember a thing about it? Yes, movies have a role in relaxation and just plain momentary enjoyment, but there can be something said for the longer term pleasure of ruminating over the themes, questions and ideas presented in good art.

I have found Tarot and, more recently the 36 Lenormand cards, a great aid in meditating on ideas and art. This came into focus when I went to see the outstanding film The Imitation Game, about Alan Turing cracking the Enigma Code that helped end WWII. Themes also include the unconscionable way homosexuals have been treated and, ultimately, what is fair and just? I’ve put aside, for this discussion, the question of how accurate the film is—after all it is art, which serves to entertain and make us think and feel. [Trailer here.]

Note: if you know even the basics of Turing’s story, there is only one real spoiler below (so marked).

Before seeing The Imitation Game, I drew three cards each from the Petit Lenormand and a Tarot deck as separate readings. I wished to compare, in part, how the messages I received would differ in terms of plot versus philosophical themes, character dilemmas or spiritual content. I knew only the broadest outline of Turing’s achievement: the facts mentioned above.

I asked: “What should I focus on in this movie to gain the greatest insights?”

Before the movie, I summed up my page of notes: “Risky strategy pays off by protecting Britain.”

Fox is cunning, trickery, strategy; and in modern Lenormand can mean a job.

Clover is luck, chance, risk, fortuitous, brief.

Bear is strength, protection or envy; modern meanings include investment, gain and authority figures like CEOs or police and military.

In my method of doing line-readings the first card is the subject, so Clover modifies Fox: a risky strategy. Clover also serves as a verb, “pays off” leading to a future result: protection (Bear). I also considered that these cards could indicate a fortuitous relationship between an employer (Bear) and a worker (Fox), although with Fox and Bear looking in opposite directions, they might have different agendas. Furthermore, Bear could resent and be envious of the smartness of Fox. After the movie, I also considered Fox+Clover as “code-breaking” and Bear as the fearsome enemy (Bear is described as a “ferocious beast” in the oldest text). So we simply have: “breaking the Nazi code.”

Imagine my surprise when the movie opens with a film of a bear! It turned out to be the logo of the production company: Black Bear. Part way into the movie Turing makes an unsuccessful attempt to tell a joke about two people running into a bear:

“The first one says, ‘You can’t outrun a bear.’ And the second one responds, ‘I don’t have to. I only have to outrun you.'”

This is a cunning strategy that can pay off when Fox is confronted by Bear. (Later I learned that Turing’s childhood toy bear—I seem to remember it being shown late in the film (?)—was his constant companion and is now featured in a display at Bletchley Park where the code-breaking took place.)

At a more abstract level, Turing could be seen as the intelligent Fox, with Bear representing his monster of a machine that he named Christopher—after his only childhood friend who protected him at school. Additionally, Fox, which can also represent something false, a faked ploy, is key to how these cards can relate to the “Turing Test” of artificial intelligence and especially Turing’s example of it in his “Imitation Game.”

From the 78-card Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck I received:

Tower reversed – Justice – Devil

Having three Major Arcana cards indicates deeply “destined” circumstances. I tried two summing ups: “Justice (logic/right) ends the War with Evil (material dominion).” or “Choosing materialism/shame (Devil as outcome) versus (Justice) a cover-up of flaws and problems (Tower reversed).”

The Devil is utmost materiality; power structures; ego; shame; blame. (The parallel to Bear as envious, ferocious beast is notable.)

I considered that Justice in the center represented a balancing act between the Tower R and the Devil. Was shame (the Devil) somehow balancing an end to war (Tower)? Or was it more about needing to find a solution (Justice) that would keep the pressure-cooker from exploding (Tower reversed) that would let evil reign?

Mild Spoiler Alert:

Contemplating these cards since seeing the film, I see a much deeper issue hinted at by the movie—perverted justice done by a blind institution that causes great harm. I’ve learned from reading Lenormand that we have to see cards as being modified by what surrounds them. Justice doesn’t have to be reversed to indicate injustice—the Devil following Justice can show the great evil that justice itself can do. When a person is seen as “inverted” (“inversion” is an old classification for homosexual) then grave injustices are done. A point has been made that the royal “pardon” of Turing for his conviction as a homosexual is a travesty as he was guilty under the law and therefore “justly” convicted as were the 47,000 other men who were also convicted (and not pardoned). What we are shocked by is that a hero who saved millions of lives should have been treated so badly—but is that just to all the others? These cards indicate the reaction of today’s viewers that the “justice” against “inversion” was heart-breakingly “wrong,” while, according to the time, it was not, despite the fact that we now see the institution itself (the law) as as a great evil.

Major Spoiler Alert:

Upon breaking the Enigma Code, the team is faced with the realization that they cannot stop the Nazi attacks as that would reveal to the Nazis the breaking of the code and the immediate termination of its use. British intelligence would have to allow the killing and destruction to continue in order to know what the Germans were up to. I see this horrifying realization as the main climax of the film, perfectly depicted by the Tarot cards: the breakthrough that could end the war and the decision to allow great evil to continue as the only rational thing to do.

Added: A final summarizing of these Tarot cards in terms of the film:To achieve true justice and the reversal of a destructive course there will be collateral damage (bad things happen).

I still find the Tarot to be the much deeper of the two decks, but the Lenormand cards astound me again and again with their uncanny precision and succinctness. As mentioned above, I’ll leave to you the implications of these cards to the Turing Test of artificial intelligence and his “Imitation Game.” Feel free to comment on these below.

I recently bought a very early 20th century booklet on fortune-telling with German-suited playing cards: Green Leaves, Red Hearts, Bells and Acorns, as found on the Spiel der Hoffnüng cards. A friend is translating the book for me and, at first glance, it seems to provide a key to the Lenormand suits.

In looking for images to illustrate these old suits I came across an astonishing double-headed version of a deck that was popular in Germany, Austria and Hungary. In it the Daus cards (2’s which substituted for Aces) represent the four seasons, but look at how the pictures match the images on the Pages:

Starting on the right: Wintery Acorns (Eicheln) are Clubs and both the Jack and Daus feature birch rod switches.

Summer’s Bells (Schellen) are Diamonds and both cards show wheat being harvested with a scythe.

The red Hearts (Röt Herzen) of Spring (same in both decks) are all about hearts and flowers, the blossoming of love.

The green Leaves (Grün Laub) of Fall are Spades and show two children pressing wine grapes, while the Jack of Spades depicts a child at play. The Lenormand text for this Jack calls it is a card of goodness. Country customs often turn grape stomping into a time of fun and frivolity. Fall is also the season when children return to school.

A 1830 32-card set of German Fortune-Telling Playing Cards (Munich: Franz Josef Holler, made by Comptoir Industry of Leipzig)

I then found a webpage featuring German cards printed with fortune-telling meanings. This deck falls right between the 1799 Spiel der Hoffnüng game (the direct forerunner of the Lenormand cards) that is illustrated with both German and French playing cards, and the 1846 emergence of the German fortune-telling deck named after Mlle. Lenormand.

While the individual card meanings don’t seem to match the Lenormand cards, the suits do, and they show a fortune telling tradition that is quite different than the English and French systems most of us are familiar with. I’d be very grateful to anyone willing to translate some of the verses above into English. Please post translations in the comments.

While it’s hard to tell what beast is shown on the 10 of Acorns (Eicheln), we also find a beast (Bear) on the equivalent 10 of Clubs. Both of them have envy as a keyword. The original Lenormand instructions read: “Bear means happiness, but it also indicates it is necessary to avoid discussions with an envious person.”

I went to see the play, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” last night. As I like to do, I drew cards before going so I could contemplate them during the performance. It enhances the experience for me to be more aware of the dynamics, character conflict and themes as they are occuring.

For those who don’t remember the movie with Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, or who never saw the play: A middle-aged couple, George and Martha, have invited a young couple, Nick and Honey, over for late night drinks after a dinner party. What follows is a series of drunken mind games getting more and more deadly as they all head straight for nuclear armageddon. It was played as a very black comedy. Luckily, it was done by a local troupe of fine actors who gave the play their own unique twist. I focused on George and Martha.

I hadn’t remembered many details of the drama, so I was thrilled by how perfect the cards turned out to be. I did two spreads. The first one was with the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot. What was I to think when three out of five cards were reversed Court Cards? As it turned out, the play provided excellent examples of how these Court Card types can “go wrong.”

• What is Martha’s core need or issue? King of Pentacles reversed.

Martha definitely has father issues. Her father is president of the college where her husband teaches in the history department, a sorry disappointment in that George never fulfilled the potential for which Martha had picked him—to become head of his department and eventually take her father’s place. Really, she is the one who should have done so; she, we are told, “wears the pants in the family.” But, her father has never really “seen” her. George sees that she’s the one who should have been king and he keeps her from falling into total despair.

• What is George’s core need or issue? Knight of Swords reversed.

George wields words like a sword, slashing and burning with derision, scorn and disgust all who come within his reach. A word-smith, he’s comfortable with attack and is always looking for a worthy opponent, only most of them fall far too easily beneath his sword. Martha does not.

He’s also her Knight in Shining Armor, tarnished beyond repair and, if we are to believe him, the agent of the deaths of both his mother and his father.

• What is the main theme? Queen of Cups reversed.

While many other themes can be found, this card clearly points to this one: how we hurt those we love and how little love there can be when one doesn’t love oneself. It suggests the lengths they will go in order to not feel sorry for themselves, despite being emotional wrecks.

Among other things, this theme is played out through the failure of both couples to have given birth, to have had a child—the empty, deflated womb (poof!). The card could also be a nod to the alcoholic haze they are all in.

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• What is the central conflict?

The Chariot reversed, crossed by Death.

This is war; a horrible end is always just around the corner, the death of every supposed victory cuts off one-after-another means of escape or reconciliation. The play culminates with a fresh story, concocted by George, the botched novelist, in which he tells Martha that a telegram has been delivered informing them of the death of their son on the day before his 21st birthday. The Chariot is often seen as the son of the Empress and Emperor (3+4 = 7). That the existence of a son is just another game they play with each other doesn’t diminish the agony of a mortal wound—the seeming death of another piece of themselves and their relationship—that ultimately strips them down to the bare bones of who they are.

I also drew five cards from the Petit Lenormand Deck asking for a description of the plot, and I got:

Heart – Mountain – Letter – Book – Man

24-Heart: love and relationships

21-Mountain: blocks, obstacles, barriers

27-Letter: written communications, documents

26-Book: secrets, knowledge, books

28-Man: a man, the querent or significant other

This is the story of love (Heart) that has insurmountable blocks (Mountain) keeping it hidden (Book) and from being communicated (Letter). George (Man) wrote (Letter) his biggest secrets (Book) in a book that never got published (Mountain – blocked by Martha’s father). The characters are continually sending messages to each other, uncovering secrets in an attempt to touch on their true hearts that are unreachable behind the barriers they’ve erected in their disfunctional lives. As I mentioned, George (Man) is the wordsmith who is essentially composing (Letter+Book) all the scenarios (the scripts-within-the-script) to get at what is most deeply barricaded (Mountain) in each person’s heart (Heart). The Letter is also central when George claims that a telegram has arrived reporting the death of their supposed-to-be-secret son (Book+Man).

Finally, I added the numbers of these cards together and got 126, reducing it to 9-Bouquet (1+2+6=9). This stumped me at first. What could the plot have to do with a beautiful gift or invitation? Of course!—the play opens with Martha having invited the other couple over for drinks. But I was even more astounded when George mockingly presents Martha with a bouquet of flowers that he proceeds to throw at her, stem by stem.

Before the play, I also felt compelled to look at two other cards contained within that sum of 126: 12-Birds and 6-Clouds. These were perfect to describe a play that is all about conversations (Birds) or, more properly, dialogs between two couples (Birds can also mean two or a couple) that play on deliberate misunderstandings, fears, doubts, instability, sensibilities fogged with alcohol, and confusion as to what is true and what isn’t (Clouds).

Decks: The 1910 (Pamela”A”) Rider-Waite-Smith deck. The Königsfurt Lenormand Orakelspielkarten, based on the 19th century Dondorf Lenormand (borders cut off).

The 36-card Petit Lenormand cards have taken the divinatory world by storm.

Dog-Liliac Dream Russian Lenormand

Two years ago only two classically-based Lenormand decks were available in the U.S. Since then there’s been a deluge of over 50 new decks (most with creative designs and self-published). Interest is supported by dozens of Facebook and forum study groups and websites in English, plus many more in other languages. Until this year, only two English-language books were available (compared to sixty or more in German, Dutch, French, Russian and Portuguese). By early next year there’ll be at least five or six new English-language books.

Two things are essential to a Lenormand reading: 1) a set of cards containing the Lenormand numbers, names and/or pictures, and 2) learning the traditional Lenormand system. Certainly, a person can use Lenormand cards as oracles: making up their own meanings, projecting stories onto them, and reading the images as symbols, but that is not what is meant by a Lenormand reading. One can use any object or image for an oracle reading; Lenormand includes specific meanings and methods.

14 Reasons Why the Lenormand Deck and Traditional System Are So Special:

The deck was first published in 1846 for fortune-telling and came with card meanings and reading instructions that were directly based on 18th century ’emblem cards’ and coffee-ground meanings. For over 220 years decks have been published with nearly identical images, instructions and meanings.

Since the late 20th century original meanings have been expanded and adapted to reflect modern life. Even though variations exist, they are minor, such that a traditional reader can understand the interpretation of someone else, even from another country.

The pictures are not read symbolically! The narrow range of meanings, which are functional rather than symbolic, ensure there is little ambiguity about their significance.

Intuition plays a major role in reading the cards, enhanced by knowledge and experience.

While a few cards are similar to Tarot (Moon, Stars, Tower, etc.), they have very different meanings.

Fish-Kendra’s Vintage Petit Lenormand

All the cards are used in a standard layout, the Grand Tableau (“Big Picture”). Modern layouts provide shorter snapshots or portraits of a particular issue.

In a reading, significance arises from card combinations: House+Book can be a school or library (a house of knowledge or secrets). Cards are not read individually but in pairs or larger groups.

Lenormand cards work well for answering yes-or-no questions, describing past and present life situations, making short-term predictions, finding lost objects, and describing people and their condition. They can also address timing.

The cards are easily adapted to modern situations as long as the integrity of the whole is not broken. For instance, Stars (like the nodes in a web) is the internet and, along with Garden (the public), they represent social networking.

One has to learn the basic meanings and to practice combining cards and other interpretive techniques in order to develop one’s skill with Lenormand.

There are many layers involved in learning the cards, such that one can learn enough to get started after only a workshop or presentation, yet it will take several years to gain proficiency and handle all the layers of significance.

You can combine Lenormand with Tarot and other modalities, calling on each for its area of strength. For instance, Lenormand is great for describing the plot of a story or movie, whereas Tarot is generally better at describing theme, character conflict and motivations. See examples HERE (Virginia Woolf) and HERE (Beasts of the Southern Wild).

Bonus: Lenormand is fun!

Clover-Ciro Marchetti’s Gilded Reverie Lenormand

Paths-Foster+Paris’ Lenormand Revolution

About

Mary K. Greer has made tarot her life work. Check here for reports of goings-on in the world of tarot and cartomancy, articles on the history and practice of tarot, and materials on other cartomancy decks. Sorry, I no longer write reviews. Contact me HERE.